1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a passive safety seat belt system including an automatic mechanism for moving seat belts from a first occupant restraining position to a second non-restraining position wherein individuals may enter or leave the vehicle without interference from the safety seat belts.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various means have previously been suggested to move shoulder belt or shoulder and lap belt passive seat belt systems into and out of occupant restraining positions. Pivotable mechanisms have been suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,266 to Cachia (wherein a lever is pivotably mounted along the roof line of the vehicle), U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,446 to Hogensen (wherein a lever is pivoted on the door) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,841 to Hayashi et al. (wherein a lever is pivotable on the inboard side of the occupant's seat). It has also been suggested to move the belts associated with a vehicle seat to their non-restraining position by utilizing a gas spring which is actuated by movement of the adjacent door.
It would be desirable to provide a simple and inexpensive mechanism to move the belts to their restraining and non-restraining positions. It would also be desirable to provide a passive seat belt system with more efficient control over movement of all of the passive seat belts in a vehicle.